Gravity
by ZahreSthr
Summary: A hole ripped through time and space allows two Narutos to exist at once. Twins in all regards except experience and time. With the future at stake and the past and present now clashing for dominance, how can two forces attracted across time make a difference.
1. Chapter 1

Gravity

Chapter 1

The largest battle within memory spread outward toward the horizon in all directions. Damage grew increasingly toward the center, here the fight for the rights to the tailed beasts and the world took place. Rubble and bodies of both shinobi and enemy lay scattered. The forests that had stood for centuries now were barren land that only held death and sorrow. On they fought, with hopes that the bright one at the center who fought the hardest would defeat the greatest evil. The crater with the deciding battle remained empty and bare except for the two bijuu that stood off within.

Within the center of the storm, Naruto stood upon the nine-tailed fox's head, eyes closed in total concentration and stillness. The golden chakra haze wrapping him wound and swayed in the calm, dancing. Below him, Kurama opened his maw and allowed his chakra to flow forth. It condensed and swelled in front of them. The chakra sphere took on an eerie glow tinged with a dark purple light. The air grew physically heavier as only the rapidly condensing chakra moved. The entire battle field halted as the oppressive chakra filled the air. The ball grew in size in the breath that all looked on, larger than any that the war had seen, and yet it still grew till it began to fill the sky. The war torn landscape took on the same unnatural glow. The clouds roiled above, stirred by the strength of the chakra growing below.

The half formed Juubi and its master stood a mirror image of the pair before them. A smirk formed across the man's face as he watched the ball grow larger. He knew that no attempt of one single bijuu and its host would compare to the power of the eight that he had at his command. This war would be his with the last move that the Kyuubi jinchuurki would ever make. The smirk grew wider, a frenzied glint entering his eyes as the suspense rose and his triumph seemed within his grasp.

The stillness that enveloped the pair engulfed the entire landscape and intensified. Eyes snapping open, Naruto and Kurama both surged into motion. They roared forward as the world exploded in a blinding white light, the bomb shooting toward their enemy. The shockwave of impact erupted outward, knocking all flat as it continued into the distance.

The screech that followed was inaudible and felt deep within the bones and drove any still standing to their knees. The world continued to be leached of all color, sweeping across the entire battlefield and continuing toward the horizon. The previously foreboding clouds dissipated and the stars behind them grew in brightness as they both fell and burst across the sky.

Naruto was filled with the light as all around became nothing. He floated in the nothing, feeling weightless and whole at once. A fleeting thought flitted across his mind wondering if this was death before that too was overwhelmed with white. He felt his heart slow from its pounding pace. Movement became sluggish, until impossible. With a last halting breath the whiteness entered his lungs and his heart stopped.

The lurching feeling was unexpected and color, life, and solidity rushed back toward him. He gasped from the impact of hard cold earth against his back. Looking into the sky he saw the stars shrink and fall back upwards till only the familiar pinpricks and patterns remained. At the edges of his vision, tall leafy trees stood around the crater he lay within. Naruto blinked as his vision swam and numbness spread through his limbs, then the comforting blanket of darkness wrapped him in its arms as his eyes fell shut.

* * *

The shock wave that knocked the gennins down passed quickly with only confusion and stray leaves falling from the trees. All three looked at each other with the same idea in mind. Leaping into the trees they sped toward the epicenter, each chakra powered step taking them forward to the next branch. They stopped as the three of them reached the edge of the crater. Cautiously they look on, fearful of who or what could have created such massive destruction within the confining grounds of the second phase of the chuunin exams. A singular body lay in the center. Impulsively the blonde haired boy darted toward it. Not to be out done, the dark haired boy rushed forward if slightly more hesitantly. Finally with a cry of indignation the final member of the team skid down the wall, pink hair flashing in the moon light.

The dark haired boy knelt tentatively over the body, checking for signs of life. The pink haired girl motioned timidly that they should move somewhere more sheltered. The blonde stared wide eyed at the man who laid before him, the image so strikingly similar to the ones of the Yondaime Hokage in the history books. Lightly he placed his hand to the side of his face to the visible markings of his status as a jinchuuriki, the same lines on the face below him. The pink haired girl glanced at the blonde wondering why he was so silent, then eyes fell back on the man at her feet as she blanched. Finally satisfied with his initial check of the man the dark haired boy looked up at his team mates in bewilderment. The blonde suddenly sat down hard and stared between the two and the man lying between them who looked startlingly like himself and the Hokage that had sealed the bijuu within him.

"The hell. Is that the Yondaime or is this exam finally getting to me?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"The hell. Is that the Yondaime or is this exam finally getting to me?"

"Naruto, this could be some kind of trap set up by a foreign team. Maybe this is a plant and the rest of the team will track him back to us and steal our scroll?" Sakura thought out loud.

"The Yondaime is dead, he killed the Kyuubi, and he is seen as a hero of this village, why would they use him as a trap?" Sauske countered.

"We could just keep moving and leave him alone. What do you think, Sauske-kun?"

"Hnn." Sauske replied in thought.

"Naruto? What do you think?" Sakura turned to her still sitting teammate who had remained quiet after his initial statement. "Naruto?"

Naruto was hesitantly reaching forward toward the man's face, lightly touching the lines across his cheek, his blue eyes clouded with contemplation. "Why does he look like me? Why does he have the same features?" he spoke almost inaudibly to himself.

"We will restrain him in case he is a foreign ninja. Then we will take him to shelter for the night. When he wakes we will know more." Sauske said decidedly. Sakura considered the decision and nodded once in acceptance. "Naruto, tie him up and make clones so we can move him." The sharp tone used seemed to loosen the blonde from his thoughts. He bounced up and formed three clones to complete the task.

* * *

Within the confines of the massive tree's root system the team of gennin and strange man took shelter. The man lay prone against the natural wall of tangled tree roots and vines, trussed up in ninja wire and rope. He hadn't woken or made any other signs of consciousness since he had been found. Naruto stood watch at the largest opening of their hollow, feeling his three other shadow clones in the trees around them also keeping lookout. His two team mates taking the moment to rest and guard the man. He allowed himself to drift into throught. At the forefront of his mind was the strikingly familiar face of the strange man and a feeling that there was more to the situation than any of them had found yet. Like Sakura had said earlier, the man could be an enemy trying to steal their scroll when they least expected. But the other deduction was that the man was in fact somehow the yondaime or a close relative. Or he could be something else entirely. The main question circulating his thought was why did he look like him? He had never seen pictures of the Yondaime with the three lines on each cheek like he had. No one else he knew had anything similar.

Naruto rubbed his temples as a headache arose. This was too much thinking and what ifs and he never did well with too much thinking. What would his teammates think if they found out he was actually trying to ponder through a problem instead of head rushing right into it with a wild cry?

Behind him Sasuke made a grunt and he turned to look back. His teammate was standing from a crouch over the man, finished with checking his life signs. He glided through the half light of the hollow toward Naruto.

"I'll take second watch. The man still hasn't woken up." As he spoke he settled into a nook between two tree limbs and began to look outward, occasionally his eyes flashed red as he scanned the area with his sharingan. Naruto nodded without replying and padded toward where he had left his bed roll to get some rest. He subconsciously ignored the man, trying to quite his mind of its circular thougths. The glimmer of a star caught his attention and he focused on it, letting his thoughts drift lazily. He never realized he had fallen asleep.

* * *

Flashes, glimpses, flickers, of dream wove through Naruto's mind. Never could he get any real pictures, just strong feelings that washed over him and emptied away just as fast. For the most part it was happy, content, ecstatic, a strong sense of love. But occasionally a cloud, a fog, a gale of loathing, desolation, dejection, terror swept across his mind.

Red which was familiar, yet somehow completely different threaded its way into his half dreams and left calm in its wake. He was able to sink into true sleep, a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Sakura woke with a start. The ground under her hard and cold and nothing like her bed at home, yet somehow she had slept for several hours if the position of the moon was anything to go by. She glanced around her and noticed that Naruto was also asleep in his own bed roll a few feet away. Then at least the first night shift was over. She lay back and listed for the sound that had awoken her. There, to her left toward her blonde team mates direction. She turned her head to the side to see what was making the noise.

Her eyes adjusted to the dark quickly and she saw Naruto's face scrunch in an almost cute way. Mentally she chided herself for thinking that Naruto could be cute in anyway compared to her Sasuke who was her one and true love. Before she could fall into a waking dream of the future with her beloved her cursed bad timing teammate whimpered. She levered herself up in slight concern. She had never heard Naruto in distress before, though this was the first time ever sleeping in the same general area of her team instead of the room next door. Another whimper had her at her friend's side. A shake of her head she corrected herself, her teammate who was in the way of her future love. Still she reached a hand out to nudge Naruto awake.

* * *

Sauske tighted his arms around himself to ward off the faint chill that permeated the tree roots. A fine mist clung to the forest floor before him, eerily frosted by the full moon above. Occasionally he flicked his sharingan on and observed his surroundings in complete detail, watching for signs of any foreign teams looking to take their scroll from them. He was determined to pass this round of the chuunin exams, which meant that he had to work with his team completely and take any advantage they could use. The prisoner they had brought, for he had subconsciously labeled the man as so, could be a way of attracting a team to them that they could easily take a scroll from. Though the prisoner looked similar to the yondaime, he wasn't him like the idiot seemed to think. He was probably some distant relative from some unknown clan that somehow took on the same features, but someone with the sharingan could see past the bigger details like the blonde hair. He saw a more angular face with more wear and worry, the hair was a shade lighter than pictures in books, and the eye shape was more round. Plus the man had those weird markings like his idiot teammate, which could mean he was a branch of the Uzumaki clan since none existed in Konoha except Naruto.

A whimper from behind caught his attention and he briefly glanced back to see Sakura leaned over Naruto, attempting to nudge him into wakefulness. She was unsuccessful and she gave up in a huff and muttered under her breathe. Their teammate turned over in his sleep and quieted. Sakura stood and walked toward him, pulling out two ration bars and handing one to him as she neared. She opened her own and began to eat quietly next to him, for once not pestering him with questions and googly eyes.

* * *

Deep within the forest a snake flicked his tongue, tasting the potent red chakra on the air. It glided along the moon dappled forest floor, silent in its passing and ever following the red chakra that was its mission. A massive tree rose in its vision and it momentarily stopped to savor the crimson flavor saturated beneath it in its maze of roots before dissipating into smoke. It reappeared in a similar fashion on its master's shoulders and hissed its findings into the ear before it. A pale face turned in the direction of the scarlet chakra, his target had been found. A snake like tongue flicked outward in eagerness. Soon the sharingan would be his and he would be one step closer to immortality. A dry cackle escaped his lips as he began to wind his way toward his quarry.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The first thing he noticed as he awoke groggily was the presence of battle chakra in the air, heavy and oppressive with killing intent. Immediately he was on alert, fighting instincts kicking in and adrenaline washing away the fuzz in his mind. The second thing he noticed was that he was currently bound with an excess amount of ninja wire and rope in an amateur fashion. With a twist of chakra and a wriggle of his hands he was easily able to escape and rub some blood flow back into his extremities.

Blood scented the air and a sharp scream of fear mixed with pain drifted into the hollow he currently crouched in. He scaled the tree above him, hugging the shadows and hiding from sight till he was above the battle and able to evaluate the events below.

Assessing the situation with sharp blue eyes, he saw two Konoha gennin squared off against an older enemy grass nin. The third gennin of the squad hung from a precariously stuck kunai against the trunk of a tree, dangling lifeless. The situation vaguely sent a trill of dejavu that he easily shrugged off for full attention of the situation. The dark haired gennin boy squared his shoulders and bolted straight for the enemy with a kunai in his mouth. The enemy dodged the thrown shuriken and made to counter attack. The dark haired gennin moved gracefully with the fighting style of the Uchiha, dodging and deflecting the blows that the older ninja fell upon him. The fight escalated and moved faster, leaving a blur of an after image behind the combatants in their speed. The enemy dodged too slow in one move and the konoha gennin was able to body slam him down. For a brief moment the battle looked over and he saw the pink haired girl dash toward her teammate in triumph. The grass nin smirked and flipped himself upright and pounded a fist into the younger boys face. He went down hard against the tree branch and made no move to rise. The pink haired girl wailed in desperation, begging her Sasuke-kun to stand back up. The enemy moved to finish the boy off and the blonde bolted in flash of yellow light for the pair, instincts to save a fellow Konoha ninja kicking in. He caught the kunai on the downward swing.

They both stared into each other's eyes. The enemy stepped back, started and muffled a gasp in recognizion.

"You! You can't be here! You died when you sealed the Kyuubi away!" The enemy shouted.

The tail of enemy's shirt erupted in a brief explosion that sent the two jumping backward, gaining distance. The enemy squared his shoulders, preparing himself for what he expected would be a more difficult fight. Behind the blonde Sasuke crouched opened mouthed.

"I don't know who you are and I don't know who you think I am, but I won't let you harm these gennin any further." The blonde squared his shoulders off in equal resolution, shifting his weight to the balls of his feet.

"You're Minato, the Yondaime! I will kill you again for stealing away my spot as the next Hokage. It should have been Yondaime Orochimaru!" the now proclaimed Orochimaru raged forward at twice the speed he was originally at.

The blonde, though slightly confused at the proclamation, did not let his attention waver. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to still completely in the face of his on rushing opponent. When his eyes shot open again a moment later they looked yellow with an oblong pupil and rimmed with red. A sword appeared in Orochimaru's hands and descended in a crescent aiming to slice blonde's head off.. The blonde turned to the side caught the blonde on his own kunai, with a pulse of chakra he sent the dark haired man before him spinning off into the distance with a furious shriek.

He turned to the boy behind him and shot a sharp order over his shoulder. "Get your teammates and find safety away from here. I will find you when I'm done here." The boy stared at him slack jawed. "Go! That's an order."

Sasuke abruptly stood, hesitated a moment more before a steely glint entered his eyes and he nodded, darting toward his companions and out of the blonde's line of sight. He would find them when he was done with this current enemy. Orocimaru burst through the tree branches in front of him and the fight continued with a flurry of movement and the clash of steal.

* * *

Sasuke was stunned by the sudden appearance of the prisoner before him and the subsequent claims of who each person was. Now he knew that the enemy grass nin was in fact one of the Sannin and he regretted his choice to not run when he had the chance. There was no way he could defeat someone of that caliber on his own.

The sharp command from the possibly Yondaime caused him to start. "Get your teammates and find safety away from here. I will find you when I'm done here." He hesitated, unsure. "Go! That's an order." With a nod and determined set to his jaw he leaped to the tree Naruto was hanging in and pulled him over his shoulder and started down the tree to the floor below.

"Sakura, let's go." He shouted across the clearing. She stumbled slightly before getting her feet under her and taking off after her fleeing teammates catching up in three long bounds. Sasuke glanced at her and she nodded as they sped away from the battle.

* * *

Orochimaru stood stooped, panting before him, blood splashing down from several wounds. His rage had allowed the blonde several openings and he fought to tire his enemy before attempting a killing blow. Nature energy flowed through him calmly and he could feel the gennin team a safe distance away by now. He was only slightly out of breathe and able to continue on with the short bursts of movement that the encounter had deteriorated to.

"You are still strong, Minato-kun, even though you haven't been around for the past twelve years." Orochimaru said haltingly between pants.

"You keep calling me Minato, but I don't know who you are talking about. You seem to think we know each other, but this is the first time we have met." The blonde said taking this lull in the battle to gather more natural energy around him.

"Don't play dumb with me, you used the flying thunder god jutsu earlier. I recognize it anywhere. You may have changed your face and learned to be a sage, but I know you." Orochimaru spat blood upon the branch beneath him. "If you don't think you are Namikaze Minato, who do you think you are?"

The blonde blinked, he hadn't been aware he was using any particular jutsu, it just came naturally, like breathing. He thought on what the man had said. When he tried to recall his name, only a half formed notion flitted through his mind. He could not recall. "I don't recall who I am."

Orochimaru cackled evily, "Don't recall who you are and yet you use his techniques. Maybe the sealing of the Kyuubi took not your life but your memories. That would be truly just for having stolen my position of Hokage." With that last statement he leaped toward the blonde. Above a figure dropped, a glowing blue ball of chakra roiled within on hand, aimed directly at the back of the charging man. The blonde stood still, waiting for the clash of rassengaan against the unbeknownst back of his opponent. The impact came but only a burst of smoke was left in passing and an irritated clone of the blonde man.

Orochimaru's cackle drifted through the clearing. "I take my leave, I promise to kill you and get ahold of the Uchiha." The blonde felt the presence of Orochimaru dissipate with his nature senses. He cursed for not having killed the bastard when he had the chance and that he had gotten away. He took inventory of his injuries, slight that they were. Turning in the direction that the gennin escaped to, he set off after them to insure their wellbeing.

* * *

Sasuke lay Naruto down on his bed roll and covered him with a blanket. Sakura fussed over a wet cloth and cleaned his face. He still hadn't woken in the hour they took to get away from the battle between the unknown man and the snake sannin.

"I'm going to keep watch for enemies, make him comfortable."

Sakura nodded in affirmation and made soothing noises as she washed Naruto's hands. She was worried about the blonde idiot. He had been stronger than she had ever seen him fight, with a fury that was unusual. Whatever the snake guy, Orochimaru, had done to Naruto when he hit his stomach with those glowing hands must have been bad. If she hadn't reacted as quickly as she had to catch him with her kunai against a tree he could have been seriously hurt or dead by that fall. She wished she could be more helpful, she could only fuss and keep him comfortable.

Outside of the shallow cave they had found near a burbling stream, Sakura heard Sasuke start as a person landed lightly on the ground before him. She turned and saw it was the blonde who had saved them. She felt some tension leave her neck that she hadn't know was there at finding him alive. She left the murky confines of the cave to ask questions.

"Are you the Yondaime?" Sasuke had beaten her to it.

"I don't think so." The blonde answered.

"Then who are you?" Sasuke growled

"Sasuke, he just saved our lives." Sakura said in exasperation.

"Who are you?" Sasuke repeated in a low note. "Why was Orochimaru calling you the Yondaime then?"

The blonde before the two gennins put his hand behind his neck and looking upward at the tree canopy in contemplation. A sense of dejavu swept across the two gennin. "I don't know."

"What does that mean?" Sasuke took a threatening step toward him. Sakura reached out and gently laid her hand on his shoulder, calming him down.

"If he wanted to kill us he would have left us to Orochimaru or would have already done so." Sakura said soothingly to her teammate. "Do you have a name then, something we can call you besides 'The Man'?"

"You see, when I try to figure out who I am, it doesn't come to me. It's blank." The man snorted and dropped his hands to his side before sitting down abruptly. "I can't recall any memories or where I am or what I was doing before getting here. I remember how to do all my jutsu, but not how I learned them."

"Daisuke, we'll call you Daisuke until you remember your name." Sakura said in reflection as she sat down across from him. Sasuke snorted and leaned against a tree a bit of a ways off.

"Hmm, great help. I like it for now. Daisuke. It will work." The now named Daisuke nodded. "A few more questions. One: Where are we. Two: Where is your jonin senseii. Three: What are your names?" he counted off the questions on one hand.

Sakura answered, apparently now the team spokesperson since Sasuke had gone to brood away from the two. "We are in the Forest of Death within Konoha. This is the second phase of the chuunin exams. We found you last night in a crater and thought you were either an enemy spy or the yondaime somehow. Our jonin senseii is Hatake Kakashi. Being the chuunin exams, he isn't allowed to help us." Daisuke raised his eyebrows in acceptance. "I'm Hauno Sakura, that's Uchiha Sasuke, and our other teammate is Uzumaki Naruto.

"Ah, I thought you were an Uchiha, you move like one." Daisuke replied toward Sasuke. "I had a friend that was an Uchiha….I think. Its so muddled. Anyways, lets have a look at Naruto."

Daisuke levered himself up with a grunt. Sakura could hear him as he shuffled into the small cave situated in the bank by the stream mumbling under his breathe, "Uzumaki Naruto, so familiar. Like a tune I can't remember the words to." He sighed as he stooped under the low hanging ceiling. Sakura scrambled after, not wanting to miss what he would do. For some bizarre reason she felt she could trust this man to the utmost. She couldn't brush off the feeling that his mannerisms were like someone she knew very well, but couldn't bring to mind who. She could tell Sasuke was hesitant, but he didn't let anyone in easily anyway or she would already be Mrs. Uchiha. With a shake of her head she dropped that last thought, now wasn't the time to think of her future with Sasuke-kun, now she had to help Naruto.

Daisuke knelt next to Naruto and checked his vitals. "So what happened to him?" he asked in a more serious tone than she had heard him use yet.

"He was fighting Orochimaru and was more fierce than I had ever seen him before. Orochimaru caught him and hit his stomach with a glowing hand and he passed out. I don't know what he did, but I caught him with a kunai before he could fall. Can you fix him?" The words tumbled out of her mouth with mounting anxiety over her teammate.

"Hmmm" Daisuke lifted the shirt over Nauto's stomach and briefly glanced over it before frowning. He placed his hand against his stomach and allowed a short burst of chakra to flow into it. An intricate seal appeared. "Ah, the gogyo fuin on top of the Eight Trigrams Seal..."

"What does that mean? Where did that seal come from? Is that what Orochimaru did to him?" Sakura couldn't believe how much the questions flowed. She felt a mix of curiosity and fear.

Daisuke let the chakra flow stop and he let the shirt fall back into place. "I can't do anything till he wakes up, but no, the main seal has been there for a long time, probably since birth. The gogyo fuin is the seal that Orochimaru applied over the top which disrupts the chakra flow through his body." He stood and dusted off his knees. "I'm guessing you didn't know about the seal before this?"

Sakura shook her head, trying to process the information.

At the entrance Sasuke spoke up. "Orochimaru said something about the Yondaime dying from sealing the Kyuubi. Naruto was born on the day the demon fox attacted. The villagers dislike him. The Yondaime sealed the fox into Naruto, didn't he?" The last phrase was spoken more as a statement than a question. Sakura blink as the pieces fell into place and unconsciously started backing away from Naruto.

Daisuke saw her movement and frowned disappointedly at her. "I don't know if it was the Kyuubi or not. But something is sealed within him. And Sakura, when you seal a kunai into a scroll does the scroll become a kunai?"

Sakura looked up at Daisuke, "No."

"Then if a bijuu is sealed within your teammate is he a bijuu?"

"No." She said slowly, comprehension dawning in her eyes.

"Jinchuuriki have been feared for what they carry but they are still people. My suggestion is that you ask him yourself when he wakes up."

With that Daisuke leaped into a tree and settled down. "I'll take first watch."

* * *

I had most of the day off from work and I took the time to really get into writing and wow, I couldn't stop myself. I was truly enjoying it. I hope you enjoy it too. Let me know if anything is off or misspelled or whatnot. I'll hopefully get it fixed if I can keep up this motivation to write.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The sun was reaching its zenith in the sky on the second day of the chuunin exams when Naruto groggily yawned and stretched his arms over his head. He was in a shallow cave on his bedroll and covered with a blanket. Shrugging the blanket off, he clambered out into the daylight. Sakura and Sasuke sat across from each other over a small fire, talking in low tones. Some fish roasted on skewers and the smell made his mouth water.

"Oi! Is there some for me?" He exclaimed, walking over to stand with them.

They both looked up at him. "He's awake." Sasuke said to himself. Both of their demeanors were odd and Naruto scratched the back of his neck. "…Eh?"

"Naruto?" Sakura said hesitantly. "Can I ask you something?" She didn't meet his eyes.

"Sure, Sakura, have you finally decided to give up on Sasuke and go on a date with me?" Naruto asked, trying to get a rise out of the unusually timid girl. She didn't react. He dropped all pretenses of joking and his face grew serious. "What is it Sakura?"

"Uh, umm. Its just that. Uh." She stuttered out.

"What she means to ask is do you have the Kyuubi sealed within you?" Sasuke asked bluntly, ignoring Sakura's dithering.

Naruto's face paled and he looked between his two teammates. Taking a step backward he began to stutter denials.

"It's okay, Naruto. I think we understand." Sakura said, briefly meeting his eyes.

"…How?" The blonde said slowly, but didn't retreat any more.

"Daisuke, the man we found who saved us from Orochimaru, discovered the seal on your stomach and asked if you had something sealed in you. Orochimaru said something about the fourth hokage dying when he sealed the fox away." Sakura said, encouraged that he hadn't panicked any more than he had.

"I did not mean to reveal what you may contain, but they did figure it out on their own." Daisuke spoke up from his position in the tree. Naruto started at the voice, having not seen him yet since he had awoken. He wheeled to face the man and pointed accusingly.

"Why are you giving away my secrets! I don't even know you! You had no right! You Yondaime look-a-like with my facial markings!" He yelled, his temper rising. Before he could launch an attack arms wrapped around his torso. The shock of the embrace locked him in place. "It's okay Naruto, we accept you. Daisuke saved our lives." He relaxed and Sakura let go.

"Walk up the tree." Daisuke directed the smaller blonde suddenly. "Let's see how much your chakra has been restricted. Then I can remove that seal on your stomach that Orochimaru placed earlier."

Naruto looked back at his teammates who were starting to eat the fish. Baffled that no one had reacted in the way he had anticipated with such revelation. "But…"

Sasuke spoke up, "If a kunai is sealed in a scroll, does the scroll become a kunai?"

"I don't know…" Naruto answered.

"Idiot, of course it doesn't! Did you not pay attention in class at all?!" Sakura flung one of the fish at him and he yelped as it clocked him on the head. And with that the group went back to its old dynamics.

Naruto picked up the fish and dusted most of the dirt away before stuffing it in his mouth. He looked back up at Daisuke, "The tree, Naruto." His almost doppelganger said patiently.

Naruto smirked, he could tree walk easily. He made a running start toward the trunk and pounded up the tree headlong. Or he had imagined himself to do so, instead he managed two heavy steps up the tree before the chakra he used to coat the soles of his shoes just shuddered and disappeared. He caught himself before he could make an undignified landing on his rear and stood looking at the tree in shock.

"Just as I thought." Daisuke drawled as he leaped down onto solid ground near Naruto. "Lift your shirt and let me see the seal again. Just channel some chakra through it."

Naruto did as he was told and the seal flared to life on his abdomen.

"Sasuke, Sakura. I am going to remove the gogyu fuin. I'm not entirely sure what will happen so please stay away." Daisuke said to the two still munching on their fish. They finished and stood up, readying themselves. Daisuke looked back toward Naruto. "Let's get this done so you can continue with your exam." Naruto looked up at a face eerily similar to his own.

Their two sets of identical bright blue eyes met and locked. "Are you ready? This may hurt because I am unlocking most of your chakra."

Naruto nodded and gulped, steadying himself for what awaited. Daisuke nodded back.

Daisuke formed the seals for the gogyu fuin, his hand glowed a bright blue for an instant before slamming them into Naruto's seal. The wind was knocked from the gennin and he doubled over. Then the rush of chakra entered his coils in a massive burst. He felt like he was on fire. He heard screaming dimly amidst the agony and was not sure if it was himself or another person.

…./\...

Sakura and Sauske watched as Naruto doubled over the hand slamming into his stomach. Sakura began to take a step forward to help before Sasuke put a hand on her shoulder, halting her. She looked again and saw chakra instantly spring up around the two in swirls and waves. It felt oppressive and heavy, but not like when Orochimaru unleased his killer intent. This was almost a pleasant pressure compared to that hell. Naruto started screaming first before being accompanied by a growl of concentration from Daisuke. The two were locked in a storm of swirling blue that increased each heartbeat. It started as a tickle at first, just a brief touch of malicious chakra, and then the blue was overwhelmed by red. The red chakra was like no other chakra she had ever felt, it pressed down against them, keeping them from moving forward to help, terror laced through her. From the corner of her eye she saw Sasuke's sharingan flare to life and sweat trickle down his face as his muscles quivered under the strain. Was this the kyuubi's chakra?

Naruto blinked his eyes open in the white space. The pain of chakra surging though him dimmed and extinguished. Glancing around him he saw a sewer in the distance. A slight cough made him spin around again and look for the sound. Daisuke stood a little ways off. Behind him a rolling grass plain and blue skies could be seen stretching into the distance.

"Sorry, I didn't expect this Naruto…" Daisuke trailed off, his hand coming up to rest behind his neck in a familiar gesture.

Naruto could sense the sewer from his mind and what he thought could be Daisuke's mind converging together.

Suddenly Daisuke was next to him. "What is happening?" Naruto asked in a whisper.

"I'm not sure." Daisuke said with a frown. "I think somehow our minds are merging."

"That's where the Kyuubi is locked away I think." Naruto pointed at the sewer. "I'm not sure how I know, I can just feel it."

Daisuke was silent for a few heartbeats before saying, "His name is Kurama."

"What…?" Naruto looked up at him in confusion. Looking back before them they watched as the two landscapes merged and melted together. The world quaked around them and Naruto felt his knees shake, Daisuke stayed unwavering beside him reaching a hand out to brace Naruto's elbow. The scene before them rematerialized as a forest, murky light and tall trees. In a clearing mottled with shadow a large beast rose from the forest floor and towered above them with glowing red eyes.

"Naruto….Why is our connection so unstable?" The Kyuubi growled from above. Surprisingly he lowered his head to be on eye level with Naruto and Daisuke. "And why is your brat self here?"

Daisuke closed the gap between the nine tailed fox and himself in a few short strides; he placed his palm against the large snout. "I am not sure my friend, but I feel like so much makes sense now that I have found you again."

"Eh? Why are you friends with the Kyuubi?" Naruto blurted out. Both the beast and man shot him a trying look and said at the same time sharply, "Kurama."

Daisuke turned back to 'Kurama'. "I forgot how dense you were at that age." The fox said to the older man.

"Yes, and I think what has happened is slowly becoming clear." Daisuke said furtively. He looked toward Naruto again. "I think it's time for you to go back."

Naruto felt the scene before him dim and he was once again aware of the world around him and the wall of red chakra and his subsiding screams. Daisuke still held his hand on his stomach with his eyes closed in concentration. The red chakra of the fox surrounding them quieted and began to sway drowsily. The light began to glow steadily more yellow. The chakra shrunk around them till only a cloak of yellow encased the two in a vaguely fox like shape, the malicious intent behind it no more.

After a moment even that chakra subsided and Naruto gasped a breath before sinking to his knees in relief. Daisuke's hand fell off his stomach. The man before him panted. Their eyes met once again and held. There was a knowing sparkle in the eyes before Naruto. "Hello, Uzumaki Naruto. It's nice to see you again." Daisuke's eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he collapsed forward onto the ground. Everyone around was too startled by the recent events to move to catch him.

"But we met earlier." Naruto said indignantly.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Are you sure you were able to confirm that Orochimaru was in the vicinity?" Kakashi demanded of Anko. He clutched the collar of her shirt and stared down at her with his one eye.

"Yes, my summons all confirmed that he was here! I don't know why! Let me go!" Kakashi dropped her and turned to the Sandaime Hokage.

"If he was in the exams, he could be looking to kidnap one of the clan children." Kakashi stated.

"My snakes said he left in a hurry, and after looking at the scene of his fight, he was battling someone at least his caliber. I don't think any of this lot of gennins could do that." Rubbing at her neck she stood near Kakashi and looked at her leader before her.

"Be that as it may be. I cannot allow any of you to interfere with the exam and give our gennins an unfair advantage. The village treaties could be revoked. I will not have another war on our hands." The sandaime puffed on his pipe in contemplation. "We will have to wait for the teams to finish this stage before we conduct a full investigation." He turned his back from the two jonin that stood at attention.

"Kakashi, I want you to meet your team once they make it through this round." The sandaime said with his back turned. "If I know my wayward student any, your team is the most valuable to him with the last Uchiha within Konoha and our Jinchuuriki."

Kakashi stood straighter and nodded. Anko blinked and looked at the Copy-cat nin in surprise. "Dismissed." The two jonin flashed away out the window. The sandaime continued to contemplate the situation, the smoke from his pipe lazily drifting out the same window.

…..

"Naruto….Or should we start calling you Daisuke?" Kurama boomed out in laughter.

"It wasn't my choice! Sakura gave it to me!" Daisuke, or Naruto, and Kurama sat together within the copse of trees. "How am I supposed to explain I am Naruto when Naruto is also there. Now I am not making sense at all. How did we end up in the past anyway?"

"I am not entirely sure on the physics behind it. But we somehow managed to rip a whole through space time. Our bijuu bomb must have been so large it created its own gravitational field." The massive fox mused, a single claw tapping its chin in thought creating a comic image.

"But why now, in the middle of the chuunin exams no less!" Naruto stood up, frustrated, and began to kick random trees in the vicinity.

"Perhaps this is a decisive time for the future and being a great force of the future, you were attracted to this time…..I agree, it does sound crazy." The fox laid his head down on the ground and sighed. "Maybe we could make the best of it."

"Oh, I will. If I am stuck here, I have lots to do." Naruto sat back down and sighed also. "Is there two of you now, like there's two of me?"

"Now that I can answer!" Kurama, smiled and picked his head up again excitedly. "When you took the gogyo fuin seal off your counterpart, you allowed my chakra within him to be released. It flooded both of our systems and equalized. I am the more powerful aspect and was able to gain dominance over my younger, angrier self. So essentially, the two of you are mentally and physically linked by me!" Kurama began to laugh manically.

"But that also means you have two of me to deal with…." Naruto said and waited while the fox adjusted to this thought. He immediately stopped laughing and huffed.

"True, I thought one was bad enough. But I am also now twice as strong!"

Naruto face palmed and allowed himself to drift out of his mindscape to reality, leaving the fox behind to gloat on his newly increased power.

…..

"I wonder if he has regained his memories yet." Sakura murmured, looking toward the still form on the ground.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the bundle of blankets, "He sure is strange. I wonder who he is."

Daisuke suddenly levered himself up and coughed before taking a drink from a water bottle.

Sakura blinked, startled by his sudden wakefulness, before asking, "…Daisuke, have you regained your memories yet?"

"….No." Sasuke narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the hesitant answer.

"I was just curious since you seemed to recognize Naruto again before passing out."

"Oh! That's a joke between me and Naruto. Right, Naruto?" Daisuke sent a sharp look in the young blonde's direction, forcing a false laugh out.

"Oh, sure! I think…. We were talking together about the Kyuubi in my mind." Naruto jumped in, sharing in the fake laughter.

Sakura and Sasuke rolled their eyes at the antics of the two blondes who were starting to act alike.

"Instead of focusing on Daisuke, let's focus on where we actually are." Sasuke said bluntly. "We are in the middle of an exam."

"Damnit! We need an Earth scroll to pass this exam!" Naruto cried out in despair, jumping to his feet. "How are we going to get one? I need to become a chuunin so I can be the greatest hokage ever!"

"I can help." Daisuke said softly, determination in his eyes.

"Uh, I don't think it's within the rules if you help us, since you're not part of the exam." Sakura said.

"I don't think any of the exam proctors are watching or else they would have jumped in to help with Orochimaru." Daisuke countered. "And as ninja, you are to use all resources at your disposal, such as me."

Naruto was nodding enthusiastically with each word.

"You can help us, but if you get in my way of getting stronger, we will leave you behind." Sasuke said threateningly.

"I understand." Daisuke acknowledged. "More, than you know, Sasuke."

…..

"Kage Bunshin" Five copies of the older blonde burst into existence. "Find me three teams who have the Earth scroll." All the clones nodded an affirmative before flashing away into the foliage. "Now we wait."

"Daisuke, what was that jutsu you used against Orochimaru?" Sasuke questioned. "It looked like a dojutsu when your eyes changed."

Daisuke was quiet for a long minute. Naruto and Sakura each held their breath in anticipation while Sasuke hid his eyes behind his bangs. "It was senjutsu."

Sasuke looked up into emotionless blue eyes, "Can you teach me? I need to be strong."

Daisuke held the eye contact unwaveringly. "No."

"Why not?" Sasuke bit out.

"It's only taught by the toad summons to those who are worthy, those that have the discipline, those who have the contract. You have none of these at the moment." Daisuke looked away.

"You don't even know me. How can you say those things?" Naruto and Sakura both jumped forward to keep Sasuke from launching himself at Daisuke.

"I know you better than you think. And senjutsu takes years to learn. If it goes wrong….you die." Daisuke looked at Naruto. "It is right for some, but not many." Naruto blinked in confusion. Sakura looked between the two. With his teammates momentarily distracted, Sasuke shrugged out of their hold. "There are other more suitable paths for you, Sasuke."

Sasuke grunted in anger and turned his back on the others to brood.

Naruto and Daisuke both straightened their backs and looked at each other. "And now we can get that scroll for you."

"How did I know that?" Naruto queried. "How can I know where each of those teams are, weren't those your clones? How did I get information from clones…?"

Daisuke looked exhaustingly at Naruto, grateful for the distraction from the young avenger Uchiha drama. "You've been using clones like candy and you've never realized that you get the information back when they disperse? How dense are you?"

"But you both got the information at the same time…." Sakura pointed out. "Does that mean you used the same chakra?"

Both turned to look at her, she blinked and squinted her eyes slightly. If you only ignored the height and clothes…..

"Let's get those scrolls." Sasuke shouldered past the group and began to leap into the canopy above. Sakura shook herself and followed after, soon Naruto was also at her heels.

With his face scrunched up he whispered toward her loudly, "Eh, Sakura, the nearest is the other way."

Sasuke skidded to a halt and what appeared to be a blush flashed across his face. Sakura sighed and turned around to follow Daisuke who was now visible leaping from tree to tree in the distance. Boys….

…

The team below them was more dysfunctional that theirs, if that was possible. All three were arguing over a vague map drawn in the soil and evidence that they had been camping in this spot for a while lay strewn about.

Daisuke motioned for the konoha gennin to gather around him quietly. He breathed a strategy to them near silently; all four nodded at the same time and leaped away to commence operation "Get the F-ing Scroll" as Naruto had so eloquently put it with much had waving.

In a bush just to the north of them Sakura stumbled out clutching at her bloodied and tattered clothing crying and sobbing loudly. The three ame nin looked up at her startled. "Save me!" Sakura moaned and pitched forward. The three clueless ninja rushed forward, forgetting their packs behind them. Naruto and Sasuke darted in and stealthily stole them away. Sakura levered herself up slightly with the help of the only girl in this squad. "I…I…"

"What?" The team hissed expectantly.

Sakura looked up at them and smirked. "I win." She twisted her hands together and kawarimied out of sight, leaving a cut log in her place.

…

"That was so easy!" Naruto exclaimed exuberantly. "And to think they somehow had two Earth and a Heaven scroll on them! Dattebayo!"

The four were walking along the forest floor, now in possession of two sets of scrolls. Daisuke kept an eye out for any traps another team might have set while the gennin followed in his path.

"Naruto, be quiet. Do you want every other team to find us?" Sakura smacked the back of his head for good measure. Naruto sobered slightly but still kept the face splitting grin on. Even Sasuke seemed to be stepping lighter than usual. They finally seemed to have a break and this exam may actually be in their grasp. The central tower loomed into view and the group marched boldly up.

Right inside the doors, Daisuke halted them briefly. He looked each in the eye. "This is probably where I leave you for now." Naruto and Sakura opened their mouths to reply. He held a finger up silencing them. "Remember the lessons you have learned in the last few days. Stay together as a team and support each other, no matter what happens. Now, go open your scrolls."

The three nodded, fires of various passions alight in each of their young eyes. They walked into the middle of the room where Sakura and Sasuke both opened the Heaven and Earth scrolls together. A burst of smoke sent them all coughing.

"Ah, my cute students, you all made it." Kakashi stood in the middle of the room, eye smiling. He looked up and past the three gennin noticing the tall blonde man standing off to the side. His demeanor immediately went from warm and welcoming to tense and hostile. "And you might be?" He slowly raised the hitia-ate off his left eye.

"Definitely nobody you're expecting, Kakashi." Daisuke remained neutral and attempted to not make any threatening movements. Kakashi growled and leaped forward.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Kakashi stood before the memorial stone, eyes roving across the names, most he knew from passing. He lingered lovingly over the few he held dear. One in particular held his gaze. "Obito..." Raising his hand, he placed it over the covered left eye before it fell back down. A bird sang out breaking past the reverie that held the jonin in place. Hands moving by muscle memory, he pulled out his little orange book and opened it to a random page but didn't look down at it. A thought nagged at him through his haze of memory. "...I need to meet my team when they make it through the second phase." With a blink of his right eye he snapped the book closed, turned around, and began walking back toward the jonin headquarters.

He made it three steps before the tell turn tug of a summoning pulled at his chakra. With a breath he was standing before his genin team in a cloud of smoke. "Ah, my cute students, you all made it." His eye crinkled up in happiness. But letting his senses out, he didn't just feel the three familiar presences he was expecting. There was one more, though not hidden. He opened his eye and looked for the person, who stood behind the group closer to the entrance. The rhythm of his heart slowed for a half beat before speeding up, leaving him breathless for a moment. It couldn't be... Sensei was dead. But the man stood with the same posture of strength, the same shock of blonde hair, the same blue gaze. His body tensed and readied itself unconsciously for a battle. "And you might be?" he asked slowly, all the while his mind blaring out contradictory conclusions. Imposter! Sensei is alive! Enemy! Yondaime-Sama!

He went with the more plausible situation and raised his hitai-ate off his sharingan eye. The man before him stood still, showing no outward hostility. "Definitely nobody you're expecting, Kakashi" That voice! So achingly familiar, but it wasn't sensei's. No, it had that same gravely undertones of Kushina-san. He snarled, how dare this imposter play with his mind using two people he cared so deeply about. Calculating the distance, he leaped forward, fully intending to destroy this enemy.

Before him the blonde imposter surprisingly did not flinch and held his ground. Kakashi's mind shouted that it must be a trick, that this enemy must aim for him to engage him in a fight. What motive did he have? What was he doing with his students? These questions flitted across the back of his mind, the front part focusing on the imminent battle at hand. It assessed the height and weight of the enemy before him, analyzing the different angles of attack, weaknesses and strength shown before it. The man stood perfectly balanced and still. No signs of alarm at the onrushing danger that Kakashi imposed. Doubt flashed across his mind, but the overwhelming instincts of attack forced it to the side. It took only five strides, two breaths, to reach the blonde imposter.

Too easy! His mind screamed as he slashed his kunai out, aiming for a debilitating blow to the abdomen that would incapacitate, but not kill. An achingly familiar chakra burst and flash of yellow and the enemy disappeared under the edge of the kunai. Impossible! Movement to the left had Kakashi duck and swirl toward it with a sweep of a leg. The man jumped over it briefly. A look of frustration the first emotion to cross his face since Kakashi had arrived. As he landed and Kakashi finished the movement with a backwards hop to gain distance the man opened his mouth to say something. Kakashi stole the moment of slight distraction to form hand seals for his signature lightning move, chidori. The man closed his mouth with a snap and groaned aloud. Once again Kakashi rushed forward in attack. Somehow the man was able to move faster than the sharingan could anticipate and the imposter was able to shift his weight, plant his right foot, and twist to the side. In shock, Kakashi saw his assassination technique pass a hairsbreadth from the man's face, the smell of burnt hair the only damage done.

"You rely too heavily on such an unwieldy attack, Kakashi." The man breathed into his ear as the momentum of the attack took Kakashi right past him. He stumbled to a halt and wheeled to face the man, gasping in slight exertion. He again shifted his weight back into a more balanced battle ready stance. Mismatched eyes and deep blue met. The blonde held his gaze with a knowing look. Kakashi's eyes furrowed in confusion, "Who are you?"

Nonchalantly the blonde raised his hand to rub the back of his neck. "Someone you know." The non-answer grated on his nerves, but the gesture and demeanor thrummed a chord of recognition. Behind him a shout startled him slightly and he remembered that his genin team was still in the vicinity.

"Kakashi-sensei! Don't kill him! He saved us from Orochimaru." "Sensei, that's Daisuke-san!" His two more vocal students shouted together. A blonde blur darted forward in-between the two fighters, uncaring of any danger. Kakashi mentally face palmed at the idiocy of Naruto. "Naruto get back! I need to capture this man for questioning." A look of determination crossed his students face and Naruto adjusted his footing, incorrectly Kakashi noticed, for a battle.

The jonin looked hard at his student and enemy, calculating distances and risks. Then he blinked, and blinked again, mind blank for a brief moment in amazement. Was his sharingan somehow malfunctioning?

Suddenly the enemy blonde was in front of his student in a flash of yellow and Kakashi moved without further thought, instincts flaring to protect Naruto. His kunai lashed out handle first, knocking the imposter in the side of the head with a resounding thud. Those shockingly blue eyes held his own for a brief moment before rolling up into his head. The man fell forward, landing in a heap on the floor. Naruto stood above the body, shock and accusation flooding his gaze. His other students rushed forward, crowding around them, Sakura checking the man's vitals, Sasuke to hover threateningly off to the side.

Vaguely, Kakashi could only wonder at how easy the last blow had seemed, like the man, Daisuke apparently, had allowed or planned for it to happen.

"You three, continue on to the awaiting proctor. I am going to take this Daisuke for questioning." He said sharply in a tone he hadn't used since leaving ANBU. Two nodded in understanding, one glared at him in defiance. "Do as I said, Naruto." he growled, adding some weight to the command with some killer intent.

"Don't hurt him." Naruto said as he turned and stomped toward the door leading to the inner keep. Sakura sighed and took off after. Sasuke remained.

"Sensei, he did save us from Orochimaru. I don't think he is a threat to Konoha." The last Uchiha said without meeting Kakashi's gaze.

"I will keep that in mind. Now get along, Sasuke." Kakashi watched as his student turned and followed his departing teammates. He looked down at the unconscious man and sighed. "I feel like this day in only going to get more interesting." He picked the body up and hoisted in over his shoulder with a grunt and disappeared with a swirl of smoke back to the jonin headquarters.

…

For the second time in almost as many days, Daisuke was tied up. This time it was professionally done and a bit of simple wiggling and chakra manipulation was not going to allow him to escape. At the present moment, he was pretending to still be unconscious, eyes closed and head nodded forward. The knot in the side of his head that Kakashi had given him throbbed. The chakra suppression seals scattered across his body nearly hummed with the pressure behind them. Kurama's chakra strained against them in an attempt to heal the damage done by his now young sensei. Having studied the components of these particular seals a few months prior to his time jump, he knew that the metaphorical damn would break in a few hours as more of the bubbling bijuu chakra forced its way forward. He scoffed at the naivety of the interrogation and torture department at this early stage. The well of chakra that he possessed may have been more than they could imagine, but once the war started, many other ninja of his caliber stepped forward. As Naruto of the future, he had made it a priority to create seals that were power house proof. Someone like future Naruto or Kisame could just wait for the suppression seals to reach breaking point and they would be able to wreck destruction on whoever had captured them.

The other weakness of these seals was that they were not keyed to nature chakra whatsoever. Drawing a steadying breath inward he allowed his mind and body to quiet. The threads of nature chakra drew into him and his eyes changed to the red ring of senjutsu, curtained behind his blonde bangs, out of sight of anyone that looked in on him. Sending his senses out, he took roll of who was about.

He allowed his senses to flow outward from his body, each foreign chakra signature of another living things echoed back to him. The stronger echoes were the jonins with tempered, controlled wells of chakra. The smaller outputs were chuunin and gennin, but they were outside of the building he was located in. He didn't just received the locations of ninja, civilians had their own flickering signature of life that nature chakra picked up on. Animals also filled his awareness as he spread his senses outward across Konoha. He was dimly aware of plants and trees, their life essence flowing down, into the ground and being lost amidst the larger, constant source of nature chakra that was the earth.

There, several miles from where he was he could feel the three gennin he was looking for. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all were okay. He felt tension release from his shoulders. If his memories were correct, they would be starting with the chuunin exam preliminaries and he sent out a silent prayer for them to do well.

Drawing himself back he touched on the chakra signatures just outside of his cell, tinged with doubt and frustration. He wondered why, and if they would be coming in soon. He inhaled and exhaled, allowing the nature chakra to fade from his system back into the earth and air. Deciding to take a more proactive approach, he straightened in his chair and gave up on feigning sleep. Not a moment later, Ibiki, Shikaku, and Inoichi marched in, each with varying degrees of emotion played across their faces.

Ibiki was the one to grab his collar and bodily haul him toward his face, chair and all. He glared down at Daisuke intimidatingly. Daisuke stared back, eyes soft without a hint of fear. Ibiki stiffened slightly at the non-reaction, and continued by tossing the chair back to the floor. Quietly he spoke, "You will be answering all of our questions. Inoichi here can look into your mind and see falsehood. Shikaku can deduct your true intentions with only a few statements. So give us what we want and we won't have to do it the hard way." He stood at parade rest, allowing his companions to take over the interrogation.

Daisuke watched them, unflinchingly, and then nodded once.

Shikaku stepped forward and sat in a chair across from him. "First, what is your name?"

"Which would you like? My current or my true? It is slightly complicated."

Shikaku looked into the hard blue gaze. "The current, then we will move on to other topics."

"Daisuke. But that is what Sakura-chan named me." Daisuke decided to answer in truth, he felt Kurama whispering into the back of his head various scenarios that could play out from telling the truth, the half-truth, or lying out right. They both came to a consensus within the few moments of mental debate, "Though I did not know who I was at the time."

"Do you know who you are now?"

"Yes." The statement weighed with emotion. Daisuke's eyes flared with a renewed strength. "It's Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo."

…

Okay, using some new writing techniques here. Still can't seem to make it much past 2K words before I find a good breaking point. I took a lot more time on this and worked on each "scene" individually in word pad so I couldn't be distracted by grammar or word counts. Let me know what you think.

Next Chapter I get to delve into Shikaku's mind, which will be very interesting.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Shikaku's mind whirled in ten different directions, trying to figure out the truth behind the statement.

"Uzumaki Naruto was confirmed to be at the preliminary rounds. You cannot easily be his imposter."

"But I am, and he's me. I know it doesn't make any sense. It didn't make sense to me either, so I gave up and decided to go with the flow. I can't change that I am here if I don't know how I got here in the first place. Even Kurama has no real idea how."

"And how did you get here in the first place if you really are Uzumaki Naruto. If you are then you must be older, and probably from the future." Shikaku decided to play this out and see where it led before using force. This Daisuke/Naruto seemed willing enough to talk. And who knew, maybe he was in fact telling the truth. If the most improbable option is left, then it must be the only possibility.

"We were fighting against the Juubi and its Jinchuuriki and somehow Kurama and I managed to rip a hole through time with our bijuu bomb. Kurama thinks that it has something to do with having a tipping point in the gravitational field or something, but I don't understand it."

"Who is Kurama?" The Nara queried.

"Oh, it is the Kyuubi's name. Not many know it. I had to fight for it."

Inoichi snorted off to the side. "You must be crazy. The kyuubi has no name and it doesn't communicate. It's just a massive ball of anger and malice in chakra form."

"That's where you're wrong, Inoichi-san." Naruto/Daisuke said lowly. "I know, because I have full control. We are partners. Check my mind if you dare."

Inoichi sat back, startled at the sudden change in tone. "Maybe I will!" he moved to form the hand seals for the mind control technique that would allow him to enter the prisoner's mind. Shikaku held his hand up, stopping him. "We will have time for that later; let him continue his story for now."

"I woke up with team seven with no memories within the forest of death. Orochimaru was attacking them and I was able to engage him enough they were able to escape. I then found them and removed the gogyo fuin seal from Naruto, though that allowed Kurama to merge with himself and his current self took over his older self. At that point I was able to regain my memories."

Shikaku looked at how open the person was before him. He didn't show any signs that a liar or an infiltrating enemy would. The room remained silent as he thought over the last few minutes. If the man before him was Naruto from the future, which unlikely as it sounded had a feeling of truth, then he could be a well of knowledge.

"If you really are Naruto from the future, how can you prove it?" Shikaku asked slowly, interested in the answer.

Daisuke looked up at the ceiling in contemplation. "If I give you background information you would think I am a very skilled spy..." He looked back into Shikaku's eyes. "If I give you information on future events, there's no way to check until they happen, if they happen the same. Which I am going to make sure they don't."

Shikaku was amazed at the deducting ability presented. If Naruto really grew up to be this person, then he had grown very much. "I suppose you can do a DNA test and a Hyuuga chakra examination. Inoichi can enter my mind and confirm my memories." Shikaku saw Inoichi and Ibiki nod in acceptance.

"A very skilled person can fake those, especially if you have a team on the outside." Shikaku countered.

"I know one very conclusive test, though you would not like it." A steely glint entered his gaze. "I can let Kurama have some free rein. Only Naruto is the jinchuuriki of the kyuubi, but seeing as I am also Naruto, we both contain the Kyuubi...somehow."

"No." Ibiki said suddenly. "We cannot allow you to release a demon on this village."

Naruto glanced at him in frustration. "Kurama and I are partners, I gained full control. I had the acceptance of the rest of the eight Bijuu. Do not think I cannot maintain control."

"Now you do understand that what you are saying does sound counter intuitive to actually showing your good will for this village?" Shikaku asked behind clasped hands.

"Yes, but how else are you going to confirm my identity? Also, I could have escaped this room a long time ago and none of you would have known, becaue I know these seals on me! I improved them five years from now!"

All thee looked at each other then back at Daisuke. "We will conduct a DNA test and look into your mind for now. Later we will have the Hyuuga check your chakra. Inoichi?"

Inoichi nodded and stepped forward. "Do not resist me. There can be the possibility of damage to your mind if you do." The blonde man nodded with a firm set of his jaw. Drawing his breath in, Inoichi began his mind walking jutsu.

Inoichi blinked as he found himself within Daisuke's mind. The landscape was surprisingly calm with rolling hills and a wide open sky scattered with fluffy white clouds. Even a breeze swept through and stirred the tall grasses in flowers. He wanted to momentarily stop and watch the clouds in an unusual Nara like fashion. Shaking his head he returned to the work at hand. He mumbled his discoveries as he wondered toward a dark patch of trees on the horizon knowing that Ibiki and Shikaku would be writing it down as he did so.

From his perspective, this mind was clean, true, and blissful, but on closer inspection patches of dead sprouted amidst the life. The copse of trees surrounded him as he guided his focus to them, laws of nature not remaining within the mind.

Before him a mountain of red fur rested. The realization of what he saw before him startled him so truly he nearly lost the mental connection tying the two minds together. The sides of the Kyuubi rose and fell with each billow of breath. But he was completely free, not locked away as expected. This drilled a stab of true fear through him. Before it could become unmanageable, he stamped it down with a scowl and moved on past the fox toward the darker parts of the forest.

As he moved on he missed the large eye slowly open and following his movement across the clearing.

The mindscape quickly changed, morphing from the placid fields to the Kyuubi forest, to a sewer flooded with malcontent. He also felt the mind behind the scenery. It still felt the same in essence, but younger and angrier. The contrast in emotions from the meadow to this forced him to stop and asses the corridors leading outward from his location. Choosing the most used and warmer feeling, Inoichi marched onward.

The mind link suddenly wavered and he could physically feel the ghost of a punch to his face. He knew for a fact that Ibiki and Shikaku would never hit the person he was mind walking without warning him first. Confused he hesitantly breached the veil of awareness between mind walking and full possession. His eyes blinked open to the young Inuzuka boy's fist barreling toward his face. On reflex he moved too short arms up to stop the attack. The surprise on the boys face before being flung across the arena caused him to pause and look around. He spotted his daughter standing on a platform looking on him with interest which shifted to confusion and horror.

"Dad?" She shouted. He felt all the jonins in the room shift in attention at the bizarre cry. She pointed her finger at him accusingly. "Why are you possessing Naruto? Where the hell are you?"

The air shifted slightly and he moved to the right dodging the attack from the nin-dog and re-directed his movement into the Inuzuka boy's lunge. They both went down in a heap and didn't rise again. He once again focused his attention on his daughter. "Ino-hime, where am I?" She blushed furiously and was about to retort when the previously unnoticed proctor spoke up with a cough.

"Inuzuka Kiba and his nin dog are no longer able to participate with this fight. I hereby declare Uzumaki Naruto as victor of this preliminary fight." He coughed once more into his hand.

He stood dumbfounded looking around the small stadium. He glanced toward Hatake and saw his sharingan from his removed headband.

"Well that's odd." He said.

"Inoichi?" Kakashi asked from the viewing platform. "Aren't you supposed to be conducting an interrogation on Daisuke?"

"I am..." He replied. "Let me try something." He closed his eyes and shifted his mental focus once again. He reentered the sewer he was in previously.

Naruto blinked back the slight head ache that suddenly sprung up behind his eyes.

"Naruto?" Kakashi sensei called down to him.

"Eh, where did dog breathe go?" He looked around for his opponent.

He didn't notice the entire room's focus on him shift from confusion to exasperation.

"Oh! I guess I won! I'm so good I don't even remember what I did. Take that Kiba. Hokage here I come." He pumped his fist in the air as the mass of people face palmed.

Within the sewer, who he thought might be Uzumaki's mind, he felt a draw toward the direction of the kyuubi against his will. Without moving, the scene shifted around him to the dense grove of trees that the demon fox had resided in. The great mountain of red fur was towering above the Yamanaka and two great red eyes glowed down at him. Inoichi stumbled backward but not before a great paw snaked toward him and enclosed him in a cage of claws. The Fox lowered his head and grinned maliciously, sharp teeth gleamed in the light. A chuckly emanated from the great maw and Inoichi severed the mind link. Or he tried to.

"No, Mind walker, stay for a little while yet." The beast spoke. Terror laced through Inoichi's body. "Tell me what you think of our situation."

Inoichi gulped and tried to stammer out a question. "Now, I am not going to kill you, or I would have done so already. I want an outside opinion of what I am theorizing."

Reining in his terror, Inoichi gathered his thoughts. "I..I..I.."

"Speak." The kyuubi boomed.

"You link them!" Inoichi blurted out startled.

"Ah. That's a good start. And what else have you found." The kyuubi's voice became much softer and contemplative. Hesitantly Inoichi continued on.

"From the prisoners mind I was able to move into a separate mind space that you riside in, from there I was able to move into what I think Is Uzumaki Naruto's mind. The corresponding link between the two minds is you. Though each of the minds has very different mind scapes, the same fundamental essence still remains, almost as if looking at two different ages of the same person. But more studies have to be conducted before any conclusion can be made." The clawed foot lifted from around him. Inhaling, Inoichi felt himself sag in relief.

"It is as I thought. Though they are the same person, their experiences make them two different people at the moment. I am the connecting factor and only the more experienced and powerful of our two aspects was able to remain within our two hosts." The Kyuubi turned and stomped off into the trees without a glance back.

Inoichi took that moment to sever the mind link immediately and gasped back into reality. He leaped from the chair and backed away from the young man tied to the chair. With eyes wide and face ashen he stared at him, ignoring the alarmed faces of his colleagues. "That was the kyuubi! And I saw though Uzumaki's eyes! Who are you."

Daisuke's eyes remained steady. "Now do you believe me?"

…..


End file.
